National Academy of Science of North Korea
National Academy of Science of North Korea
  • By Choi Sung, Professor of Computer Science at Nam
  • 승인 2015.10.27 15:22
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Founded in December 1952, the National Academy of Science of North Korea plays a pivotal role in implementing the nation’s Information and communications technology (ICT) and science policies.

The National Academy of Science (hereafter referred to as NAS), which started off as the Academy of Science (a research institute) in December 1952, set up its administrative department, the National Science and Technology Committee, in 1962.

Worsening political and economic situations in and outside North Korea in the 1980s (e.g. the collapse of communists states in Eastern Europe) put the field of science and technology into the doldrums, but NAS included the development of science and technology in North Korea’s strategy to turn the nation into a militarily powerful and economically prosperous nation, designated 1999 as the Year of Science, declared North Korea’s political commitment to science and technology and continued to expand investment in science and technology.

As part of such efforts, North Korea drew up a five-year plan for the development of science and technology in 1998. And it pushed ahead with a new five-year plan for the development of science and technology in 2003. And the Academy of Science was elevated to the National Academy of Science of North Korea on November 23, 2005.

As a result, it was allowed to tighten its control over research institutes affiliated with the Academy of Science and other research institutes operating under each production department. And the profiles of those in the field of science and technology improved. The task of informatization has been taken care of by NAS’s Electronic Automation Science Branch, Program Research Lab and Computer Science Research Institute. NAS now serves as North Korea’s biggest think tank that has nearly 200 research institutes and 30,000 researchers under its control.

The Electronic Automation Science Branch is focused on developing software technology (e.g. designing large scale integrated systems on a chip) and industrial automation technology (e.g. process control technology) while the Program Research Lab is dedicated to researches on software theories and practical matters; international cooperation; development of programs for domestic and global markets; software talent nurturing; distribution of software technology and products; and development and distribution of software that each sector of the North Korean economy needs.

The Computer Science Research Institute is known to mainly develop high-performance parallel computers. NAS also has an electronic materials research institute that concentrates on the development of materials for semiconductors. As such, NAS has been taking the lead in moving forward with the nation’s informatization projects, strategies for the development of science and technology and technology development projects across the science spectrum.

North Korea succeeded in developing its own distributed computer control system (DCCS), North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on March 23, 2013.

NAS’s Industrial Information Research Center reportedly developed North Korea’s own distributed computer control system (DCCS). The Industrial Information Research Center explains that its DCCS is a production control system that can be applied to large-scale production processes.

Its DCCS enables locationally distributed control and functionally distributed control of overall production processes by installing several commuters for each production process and proactively distributing control processing functions. The functions of its DCCS are extended versions of those of existing production control systems. And as the DCCS uses inter-system information integration, efficiency can be enhanced when it is applied to large-scale production processes.

North Korea said that a team of leading researchers at NAS’s Industrial Information Research Center, including center head Choi Sung, department head Kim Ryung-dong, researchers Kim ho and Park Gwang-hak, had participated in the development of the North Korean DCCS. In the development process, the team also developed a data communications program by changing index values for all of the industrial automation devices that follow international standards for industrial data communications.

In addition, the team had developed an integrated development tool for industrial automation that realizes data collection, monitoring and controlling and production command on computers and supports the development of user interfaces. North Korea said that the development tool can be applied to not only Windows but also North Korea’s Red Star OS (a North Korean Linux-based operating system) and Linux. This control system has been put in place at Sunchon Chemical Industry Complex and the Kanggye General Tractor Plant, according to North Korea.

Under the slogan ‘Let’s Break though to Cutting-edge CNC (Computerized Numerical Control),’ North Korea has been committed to the automization of production processes. Thus, the development of its own DCCS was part of its endeavors to automate production processes. Besides, as North Korea found it hard to import foreign-made production automization software due to lack of funds and developed nations’ sanctions on exports to North Korea, North Korea probably developed such systems on its own to break the impasse.


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